The Costs of a Child

MSN Money recently reported that the cost of raising one child is $270,000 through the age of 17. This calculation does not even include the costs of college tuition. This so called "cost" has been reported all over the news and media during the past few weeks. Last week, I saw a very nice power point presentation going over the "costs of raising a child". I searched for the power point so that I could share it here. Unfortunately, I did not have success in locating the presentation. However, I did find the words that accompanied the slide and have reproduced them below:

The Cost of a Child
What do your get for the estimated $160,140.00 a child will cost you over your lifetime?
Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
Glimpses of God every day.
Giggles under the covers every night.
More love than your heart can hold.
Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
A hand to hold, usually covered with jam.
A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites, building sandcastles, and skipping down the sidewalk in the pouring rain.
Someone to laugh yourself silly with no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.
For $160,140.00, you never have to grow up.
You get finger-paint, carve pumpkins, play hide-and-seek, catch lightning bugs, and never stop believing in Santa Claus.
You have an excuse to keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh, watching Saturday morning cartoons, going to Disney movies, and wishing on stars.
You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.
For $160,140.00, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof, taking the training wheels off the bike, removing a splinter, filling the wading pool, coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.
You get a front row seat to history to witness the first step, first word, first bra, first date, and first time behind the wheel.
You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren.
You get education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.
In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there with God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost.




I personally enjoyed the PowerPoint presentation and the words to accompany are certainly well stated and absolutely true! My little man is priceless! So, what is Dustin up to these days?

• Little Man just turned 13 months old!
• Dustin is eating, eating and eating!! He will no longer eat baby foods, but wants to feed himself everything that the big people eat! And...a lot of it! On Sunday after church we went to Bob Evans--he at half a pancake (and not your mamma's silver dollar cakes), cantaloupe and his Cheerios!! We attempted kids night at Fazoli's this evening...he did not like is spaghetti. I am amazed by how much he can eat. And boy, if he does not get his meals in a timely manner...watch out!
• Dustin just learned to shake his head (as in "no"), but I don't think he knows what it means--he thinks it is funny. Daddy read a passage from the bible at dinner a few nights ago about not being with an adulterous woman--Dustin shook his head "no"!
• Dustin enjoys pulling himself up and holding onto our fingers to walk with us. A few weekends ago he walked around the house behind his lion walker that grandpa got him for his birthday! He walked for a long time! He will soon be independently mobile on the two feet! Below is a photo of Little Man with his walker:
  
  
  

• A few mornings ago, Dustin was in my room while I finished getting ready for work. When it was time to leave, I said, "Let's go Dustin!" Dustin crawled to the door! He is so smart!
• My Little Man used to be the cat's meow at daycare (the only boy amongst the girls). Last week, another little boy joined him! Little Man likes to play with his new little friend who is a boy!
• Little Man is still wearing size 4 diapers. He also wears 12-18 month clothing. He is very tall and is growing fast.
• He no longer likes the toothbrush. Mommy and Daddy have to pretend that they are also brushing their teeth (with his toothbrush) in order to get him to brush his teethers (and he has a mouth full). We will be making a pediatric dental appointment in the next month. I am looking for some recommendations for good pediatric dentists.
• Dustin went on his first kayaking trip a few weekends ago! He clearly enjoyed the ride, but not the lifejacket! Below is a photo:

And so, $270,000, WHAT A BARGAIN!!!!

A Visit with the Fishes

We had a good time today visiting the aquarium near Cincinnati!

We left shortly after church (stoping to have lunch, since Dustin decided it was time). Dustin was a little sleepy, since he did not have much of a nap before our trip today. He did still show excitement over the multicolored fish. I even petted a shark! Here are a few photos of our adventure:

Dustin and I playing on a big frog in the frog bog:

Two alligators laying on top of one another:

Jellyfish (hopefully we will forget about this image before our next swim in the ocean):

Daddy and Dustin (look at that face):

Ah, yes! Multicolored fishes are the best!

We have had a fairly low key couple of weeks. Dustin has progressed to eating mostly table foods--he wants to eat with Mommy and Daddy and loves to eat the foods that we eat! He is also now drinking his milk from a sippy cup. We bought the Born Free sippy cups and those have been the only ones that he likes! He has also taken to climbing all of the steps so that he can go into his room to play with the toys stored there. He is a pretty fast climb!

We have some other exciting news. But, we'll be keeping the suspense for a little while longer!

It's my PARTY!!!

Saturday was a BIG day in the Anderson household!! We celebrated one year of little miracle mans life!

It was a fairly crazy weekend with a total of 13 folks sleeping in the nooks and crannies in our house (that is not counting Tim, me and Dustin). Some of them even camped out in a tent in the yard! Other family members from out of town were in hotels and of course, mom in the RV! But, we did have a good time.

I just realized that I did not take any photos over the course of the weekend. The few photos that I did get were taken by my lovely neighbor (and friend), Meghan! And so, I implore you--if you are reading this and took photos over the weekend, PLEASE, PLEASE send them my way.

There were a few teary moments for me this weekend. Fortunately, I was able to hold them back. It was an amazing moment to celebrate the one year marker of Dustin's life after he has been through so much! We are so blessed by an amazing God!

And so, I will leave you with a few of the photos that I do have from the weekend (hopefully, if my pleas are heard, more will follow):

Dustins cake--not made by me, this time! Wow--Yummy!!

Dustin was so neat about eating his cake. He did end up with the colored icing on his face, though.

Dustin is Moving

Tim and I made an exciting decision today! We have decided to move Dustin to a new daycare, Creation Kingdom. We toured a brand new facility today, which will open its doors to precious creations, beginning next Monday. This news is particularly exciting to us, since we have several concerns regarding his current daycare situation. Creation Kingdom is a Christian based program which includes bible stories, songs and prayer time at meals! The daycare also offers an intentional curriculum for its attendees and a directed learning center that includes lessons in sign language and Spanish! I am also thrilled that the daycare offers nutritious meals that are cooked in their kitchen on-site (no corn dogs, hot dogs or chicken nuggets)!! While it would certainly be ideal for Dustin to be cared for at home, we believe that this new daycare is a wonderful alternative! We will be making the move as soon as possible.

Since the last post, Dustin had his follow-up visit at Vanderbilt with the infectious disease physicians and the surgeon. Dustin's labs demonstrated that his infection markers were all completely normal. Also, his chest x-ray looked better than it had since shortly following his surgery. His right lung was fully expanded and the fluid in the lung was minimal. Good news and a praise!

Following our Friday trip to Vanderbilt, we drove down to Greenville, South Carolina where we were able to visit with friends. It is always nice to visit good friends! Dustin was also able to meet my friend Amy's foster daughter. He crawled right up to her to check her out! Such a social little man!

Dustin was diagnosed with an ear infection yesterday. So, he has had a rough couple of days. He seems to be taking it all in pretty good stride and had a better day today. I am hoping that he will recover quickly and we will have a long healthy stretch--he has been through enough.

I have several recipes to post in the next few days and hope to catch up on my blogging. Until then...

Dustin -- 11 Months "Young"

Yesterday was Little Man's eleven month birthday!

We spent it in a fairly boring manner. Mommy was working at home, while Dustin played, played, played!! Dustin remains out of daycare, since there is pneumonia and croupe going around his room.

The lowdown on Little Man:

• As of April 29, you weighed 18 pounds, 6 ounces (within the 10th-25th percentiles).

• Also as of April 29, you were 30 inches long (within the 50th-75th percentiles). You are going to be a tall little boy!

• You wear twelve month clothing, sometimes fitting into the 12-18 month articles.

• You wear size 3 Pampers.

• You are eating everything that your Mommy and Daddy will allow!! Fruits, veggies and meat meals entice your pallets. Of course, you still greatly enjoy your cereal and your bottles. You have been taking formula since shortly after we came back from Vanderbilt, since the supply of breast milk ended. You get excited about puffs. YOU STARTED CHEERIOS YESTERDAY! You recently discovered the sensational taste of Daddy's buttermilk pancakes.

• You so wanted to try Mommy's hot fudge sundae yesterday. Mommy was stingy.

• You adore your doggy. You and Mommy used to play a game chasing Gervase around the house. Now, you chase Gervase all on your own. Gervase thinks your great and shows you with lots and lots of kisses.

• You are a mover and shaker--you make your rounds (crawling) all over the house.

• You are pulling up on the furniture and standing on your own.

• You love to open all of the cabinets that mommy and daddy have not yet baby proofed.

• You are so talkative.

• You enjoy flipping over backwards off of my lap and onto the floor.

• You are calmed by Mommy singing your favorite song--Jesus loves you.

• You are a fun loving, amazing little man who is utterly adored by his mommy and daddy!

Finally, today your Daddy took you for your first "professional" haircut! Daddy says that you did so well! The photos below show Dustin with his wild hair pre-cut and during his cut!

We're Home!

We finally arrived home late Thursday evening!

We are all very happy to be sleeping in our own beds again (especially Dustin, who smiled up at me from his crib). Most of all, Tim and I are very grateful to be home with little Dustin! We certainly believe that all of the many, many prayers raised up on Dustin's behalf were heard and answered! (This is totally happy dance worthy!)

Tim, Dustin and I have each been trying to catch up on all of the sleep that we missed during the month of May. I'm not certain that we'll ever fully catch up, but we are all feeling much better.

Dustin is making wondrous progress. He is now beginning to crawl, can sit up from a position of lying down and has returned to making more of the consonant sounds that he made prior to his surgery. His disposition also more closely resembles the pre-surgery Dustin. I am also relieved that his food intake is progressively increasing, since we've been home. This has been a concern of mine, given that Dustin had lost 3-4 pounds and was looking all skin and bones. He is beginning to fill out a bit.

It is so amazing and encouraging to see the rapid healing progress take place. Earlier this evening, I was even able to remove the bandage covering the chest tube site and replace it with a regular old band aid! The chest tube site is healing over quite nicely!

We were able to enjoy a little bit of pool time this past weekend. We were very careful not to get Dustin's chest tube site wet. We are also keeping him away from other kids and people in general to avoid any potential exposure to illnesses, at this time. Dustin very clearly enjoyed the change of scenery and the pool time.

Below are some photos of our fun time at the pool:

Homeward Bound

Dustin was moved to the general pediatric floor on Tuesday night!

Yesterday, one antibiotic was dropped from his regimen and the other antibiotic was switched to an oral dose. At this point, the withdrawal medications continue to be administered and were actually tapered again. Dustin's IV and feeding tube were also removed yesterday! So, at this point, Dustin is completely unplugged!

We also saw a much more active Dustin yesterday. He actually crawled around a bit on the floor mat. He also sounded happier--we heard much less of the moaning sounds that he had been making (what a relief for mom and dad)! PT worked with him some more yesterday. However, he was a bit tired from all of the other activities earlier in the day and was fussy for the physical therapist. We will receive a referral for continued physical therapy, once we return to Lexington. I am hoping that this hospital stay will not set him back too much developmentally. Overall, he has made amazing progress physically during the past week. Since he has lost at least 3 pounds and most of his muscle mass during his time here, it will take a little while for Dustin to build up all of his physical strength.

The infectious disease physicians ordered blood work that will be tested to determine if Dustin has an immune system deficiency that may have contributed to his septic state. We will find out the results of these tests in three weeks to a month, when we return to Vanderbilt for a follow-up visit with the surgeons and the infectious disease physicians.

Today, we are preparing for a discharge order. All of Dustin's medications are being administered by us orally (even one at 1:00 a.m.--Aaarrrgghhh); he is eating better and slowly getting his strength back. We believe that we will be spending the weekend at the casa de Anderson in Lexington, Kentucky.

And so, there will likely be a lull in blog entries (at least for a few days (ha)). I'm looking forward to writing boring old entries such as those that includes recipe for the latest dishes enjoyed by my family. Most of all, I am forever grateful that this story has a most happy ending!